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But the harder I thought, the more I failed to establish any links. Juniper was a clever girl. Why would she willingly choose a man like Harold Montgomery, who was already a celebrity by Oakmont standards, especially if she knew she could invite media attention? She'd be better off with someone who could be just as wealthy and stupider.
Someone with fewer enemies.
But she'd purposely gotten entangled in a case that propelled her to the kind of limelight that'd eventually make it impossible to hide her history. Was she really that foolhardy? Or was there something—
I slapped my hands on the table and kicked up a storm of dust. File after file lay unopened in front of me, each one dirtier and shabbier than the other.
Suddenly, my eyes fell on the time on the clock overhead, and I gasped. I pulled out my phone.
When the hell had I turned this infernal device silent? I'd missed all of Leia's fifteen calls. The last missed call was from an unknown caller. I tried her number first, but I didn't expect her to pick up.
Utterly defeated, I called her teacher.
"She waited for you for three hours," was the immediate reply I got. I hadn't even asked the question, but I deserved that, along with the flavored disgust she had in her voice.
The whole school was probably talking about what a fantastically lame parent I was to my kid. I'd forgotten to be there for her drama show.
She'd never thought I would show up—and I'd meant to prove her wrong.
It was my one chance to redeem everything I could never do for her. I had an opportunity, an entry.
So much for being a better parent.
Why was I such an asshole? Leia had needed me, and I'd failed her for the thousandth time. I–I should have shown up. I left the station immediately.
A very frantic cab ride later, I reached the apartment. Leia wasn't around, but Paladin was sitting in the foyer, reading a book and sipping a glass of sweet tea.
He took one look at my face and sighed. "What did you do this time, Cap?"
I shook my head like a rudderless hull. "Forgot to be there for Leia's show. And forgot to pick her up."
Paladin excused a lot of my errors, but even he groaned. "Ah, fuck. I guess that's why she stormed in and told me she wished your ass would light on fire."
I balked at that. "She was here? Did she talk to you?"
He smiled sadly. "Aye, she talked to me. She likes me, Cap. You, on the other hand ..."
I wasn't about to take cheeky behavior from my own team. I scowled heavily. "Where did she go?"
"She's steaming like a hotpot, Cap. Maybe give her an hour. She was pretty beat up."
I knew he was right, but this was again one of those times when rational thought refused to be my friend. "Tell me where she is, Paladin."
He regarded me like I was an erroneous little child and finally sighed like he was tired of the very many burdens of the world. "She's out in the garden."
I braced myself for inclement teenage weather and headed out into the garden. She was sitting in an Adirondack chair, a book over her face. IknewPaladin was right.
This was not a good time to bond or to get killed by my kid. But the hot-blooded SEAL in me refused to comply. "Leia?" I called out to her, trying to be as gentle as I could.
She moved the book from her eyes and regarded me like I was a living bout of COVID. "Go away."
I stood my ground, trying to reason with her. Tracking Omar down would have been easier.
"Listen, I'm really sorry about today. I wanted to come, but I got caught up with work. I'm sorry you had to walk back, but school is only fifteen minutes from here. That doesn't excuse my forgetting to get you."
I knew I was saying shit.
The fuck, Grizzly, why the hell are you defending yourself? Why did you say that part about walking back home?
